Betsy Bennett
I have a passion for helping entrepreneurial companies get it right. I have combined a decade of Big Four public accounting experience and a decade as the CFO of a rapidly growing corporation with two decades of serving entrepreneurial companies as a consulting strategist, CFO and COO to deliver the appropriate scale of big-company processes and analysis to emerging and mid-market entrepreneurial companies.
My Primary Area of Focus:
- Strategic planning and execution
- Consulting on the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS)
- Financial planning and analysis
- Profitability analysis
As a multi-dimensional executive with board and audit committee experience, I have a track record of growth, turnaround, and strategic leadership. My experience in entrepreneurial environments that often face the need to develop stronger corporate practices is the motivation for my achieving expertise in EOS.
I bring my compelling organizational leadership and a straightforward management style to bear for my clients. Together with my ability to relate to all stakeholders at the highest level of integrity, I advance internal alignment and focus management teams on their most essential objectives.
Some examples of significant initiatives that I have led and their benefits to my clients include:
- Designing interactive financial models that enabled company leadership to fully understand the financial dynamics of their operations, allowing them to focus on optimizing performance by identifying higher-value strategies
- Implementing EOS with multiple companies that helped their leadership teams gain focus and further instill accountability into their company cultures. The companies benefited from the clarity of a shared vision and obtained the tools needed to efficiently and effectively execute their strategy.
- Designing and implementing a tiered pricing model based on volume of business for the nation’s largest credit union service organization, reflecting the differences in profitability of over 500 relationships––customers and product lines––which increased management focus on profitability and resulted in 25%+ compound annual growth over ten years
- Reengineering annual budget processes to deliver timely, accurate budgets that included operating unit ownership and alignment with overall corporate strategy
I founded the Florida CFO Group in 2010 with two other partners. I am a CPA with both a Bachelor of Business Administration and Master of Accountancy, and have four decades of experience as a CPA, CFO, COO, strategic consultant and board member. I was a CFO of the Year finalist in 2014 and was also recognized as one of the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 in 1999.
Other than my leadership roles as a fractional CFO and an EOS expert for various companies, some specific titles that I hold or have held during my career include:
- Independent Board Member and Audit Committee Chairperson of Flanigan’s Enterprises, Inc. (BDL:NYSEAmerican)
- CFO of Mission Health Communities
- COO/CFO – IC Intracom
- Owner and Chief Consultant – Bennett Consulting Services
- CFO – PSCU
- Senior Manager – Ernst & Young
Resources
Case Studies
Blog
- Bridging the Gap: Aligning 2024 Strategic Initiatives with Budgetary Realities
- Bicycling and Budgeting: More Alike Than You Think
- Speaker Series – Tampa 2022
- The Power Behind Managing A Scorecard
- When to Hire a Fractional (Part-Time) CFO – Part 2
- Are You Losing Money on Your Biggest Customers? Part 3
- Are You Losing Money on Your Biggest Customers? Part 2
- Are You Losing Money on Your Biggest Customers? Part 1
- Mergers & Acquisitions: Looking at a Potential Purchase
- Are Budgets a Waste of Your Management Team’s Time?
Video
Testimonials
One of the best decisions we made was to engage Betsy Bennett as our CFO Consultant and EOS Coach. Within a few short months, our business was more focused, our leadership team was more engaged and we made some tough decisions which helped our business not only survive the pandemic but grow through it!
Betsy asks critical questions, challenges us to tackle big issues and puts on her CFO hat (literally) to help us find solutions. She helped us launch the Entrepreneur’s Operations System (EOS) late in 2019. As we worked through this management process, key opportunities bubbled to the top immediately including how our operation was over-staffed and spread out across too many offices. It was a tough call but we decided to close 2 of our 3 offices. With the pandemic coming in months later, this turned out to be one of the smartest decisions we ever made. Betsy was there every step of the way to help us calculate costs, negotiate vendor agreements, develop cash flow projections and assist us with seeking funding. We couldn’t have done it without her leadership and guidance.
Bill Fries- Chief Executive Officer of Hiregy
Betsy's contribution to our company has been extraordinary. Under her calm and expert guidance, we've developed a thorough financial model of our enterprise; a model that has changed the way we do business. Building on that success, Betsy helped to spearhead our implementation of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) – a process through which we have become increasingly intentional and disciplined. Betsy is a great teammate and a good friend; I commend her to you without reservation.
Noel McCormick – President at McCormick Stevenson Corporation
Betsy came to IC Intracom highly recommended by several people and stepped into a difficult position during a financial turnaround. She exceeded all expectations as CFO (later made COO), as she steadfastly worked through capitalization of the company and enactment of cost controls during the turnaround. She meshed well with all team members and was able to help guide the company using her winning interpersonal effectiveness. I highly recommend Betsy for the top Finance job in any company. Given the opportunity, I would be proud to work alongside Betsy again, including in my current or future assignments.
Don Barry – President and CEO of Edelbrock Corporation
In having either hired Betsy or having brought her in to other engagements I have become a strong advocate for the skills she brings to a project. Few financial people are able to translate their language to that of operations and strategy as well as she. This ability amongst others sets Betsy' value quotient to any organization ahead of the pack. Ego and myopia are foreign concepts to her as she sets about understanding the current situation and how to realign an organization in fulfillment of its vision.